By Agness Changala
Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) Gilbert Phiri says the courts will not be encountering a situation they have not faced before where they have to conclude corruption cases in five months as the time for hearing presidential petitions is even shorter
Speaking with Daily Revelation, Phiri said the government’s pronouncement that corruption cases will be tried and concluded in five months, will enable accused persons to purge themselves in a short space of time and allow them to move on with their lives or go to jail if they [pp-logged-users] are found wanting.
Last week, President Hakainde Hichilema said he had signed two pieces of legislation that will enable the government to try and conclude corruption cases within five months.
President Hichilema said if one engages in corruption, they won’t have to wait for many years for their matter to be concluded.
Commenting on this development, Phiri said the legislative innovation to truncate the period within which to prosecute economic and financial crimes is a progressive move.
He said the National Prosecutions Authority (NPA) has been looking forward to something like this and has welcomed it.
“It is something we have been looking forward to and heartily welcome. This will now enable accused persons to purge themselves in a short space of time and allow them to move on with their lives or serve time in a penitentiary, as the case may be,” Phiri said.
He also said the short space of time will summon all available prosecution resources in meeting the challenge posed by the new legislation.
Phiri, however said, the development will demand deployment of key human prosecutorial resources to handle the cases.
He said the NPA will rise to the challenge.
On some stakeholders expressing concern that corruption cases are complex and five months may not be adequate to try and dispose of cases, Phiri argued that election petitions were equally technical and complex but were disposed of in a shorter time period.
“The courts and counsel will not be encountering a scenario not met before,” said Phiri.[/pp-logged-users]
